Politi-Beat: One person's ranking of local projects in the transportation bond bill

Thursday

Apr 24, 2014 at 11:47 AM

In addition to funds for South Coast Rail, the bond bill includes four projects of local interest.

Will Richmond Herald News City Editor

With the passage of the transportation bond bill a lot of attention, including in this space, has been given to the $2.3 billion earmarked for South Coast Rail.

But beyond the big money project is a number of other projects that made it through the conference committee and subsequent votes in the House and Senate, and later the signature of Gov. Deval Patrick.

Local projects within the bond bill include $400,000 for the removal of debris and structures of the Old Hix Bridge on the east branch of the Westport River in Westport; $175,000 to upgrade and create a scenic pedestrian river walk and bicycle lane along Riverside Avenue from the Buffinton Street intersection to the South Street intersection in Somerset; $500,000 for the planning, design and installation of lighting on the Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge in Fall River; and $2,000,000 to reconfigure the Bark Street and Stevens Street intersection through the use of a rotary in the town of Swansea.

Passage of the bond bill does not ensure the funding will be provided for each project as the funds must be released by the governor’s office.

With that very important caveat in mind I’ll take a stab at ranking the local projects in order of which should have priority to have the related funds released.

1. Reconfiguration of the Bark Street and Stevens Street intersection: A project that will improve traffic flow should take precedent over efforts that will offer more cosmetic fixes.

2. Braga Bridge lighting: Proposed by freshmen state Rep. Carole Fiola, this project does have the possibility of turning the bridge into landmark that goes beyond its current status in the region.

3. Riverside Avenue pedestrian/bike path: The more opportunities to provide access to the waterfront, even if it’s limited along Riverside Avenue, and get people exercising is a good thing. The Fall River boardwalk has become a popular spot during the warm weather months, this could be Somerset’s answer.

4: Old Hix Bridge clean up: Always good to clean out old debris and maybe this would aid boaters traversing the Westport River.

HOW WOULD YOU RANK THEM?

Email Will Richmond at wrichmond@heraldnews.com or reach him on Twitter @Will_Richmond.